Discussion & Debate: The Advantage & Disadvantage Of 7/8kg Washing Machines.

[thelaundrylab]

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hiya all, I wanted to write a thread about 7/8kg washing machines and find out what advantage and disadvantage of these machines. I'm going in blind which I haven't researched much about it, but thought it would make a interesting topic. </span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">From what I know so far, bigger drums means you can load more washing, and would be quiet suitable to those who have a large families. The other advantage is, you can wash your duvet's, pillows or other bulky items, with out having to take it down the launderette or laundromat, which is fantastic. Over the years more and more machine's are heading to cater for larger quantities.  </span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">The only disadvantage I can think of, you would need to save a lot of washing to make up a load and I can't think of any one who has a lot of clothes to be able to do that. Unless you guys can prove me wrong, lol. The other thing is, would these machine really be practical for someone who is single or for people who have no kids etc.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">As you can see my knowledge on this is very young and I suppose its something I've never had to look into, but I suppose at some point in the future I have to face that bridge, when that day comes when a machine breaks down.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Would be kool to learn what your views are on this certain subject...</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hass.</span>

 

 

[aegokocarat]

hotpoint aqualtis 7.5kg drum
advantages: wash more in one go, wash duvets and more water action
disadvantages: small items sometimes go missing and the machines drum is very large and things like dosing balls go missingh too.
Tom

 

[dishwasherrules]

Miele 7kg

Hi Hass, I own a Miele W6566 featuring a 7kg drum.
The advantages, for me, are being able to wash all my underwear, beddings, towels, tea cloths and everything that can/needs to be washed with Cotton or Hygiene programmes at 60/75°C in one go. And of course, as you have already said, saving some money washing duvets, pillows and feather jackets directly at home. I'd like to specify that I don't wait for a full 7kg load as this would mean leaving the laundry waiting for too long, and I prefer to do 1 load according to the type of laundry (coloureds, delicates or whites) once a week.
The only downside I've noticed so far is small items such as ghost socks and ColourCatcher cloths sometimes get stuck between the glass and the gasket at the door.
Another good thing is that long curtains get much cleaner in this Miele than in my previous 6kg Bosch washing machine.
Ivan

 

[dj-gabriele]

Well, my point of view:

The advantage of bigger washing machine is indeed that they are bigger.
So tha regular 90% of the people will mix everything up in one big load like in Candy's "wash'n go" coloureds and whites + synthetics and cottons all at once.

Since I'm one of those that brings duvets and curtains to my favourite professional laundry, big capacity is a non issue to me.

Figure that 8 kg of laundry are 8 complete bed sets! Who washes that much in a load at home?!

The disadvantages are numerous:

the first one is that 99% of the times the machines are run underloaded.
A 5 kg load washed in a 5kg machine will use less water and energy of the same load washed in a 8 kg machine! Even on the smartest most expensive machine.
Even more so with a 3kg load! What a waste. (Which is the "standard average load" Italians do currently.)
Go figure that in a comparative advertisement Whirlpool bragged how good was one of its 8 kg machines that washed just 1 kg of laundry with "only" 25 litres of water! now, the very same machines used 55 litres for a full 8 kg load... You do the math.

The second one is the relation bigger drum, bigger forces on the spider and bearings, along with faster spin speeds, this usually equals a shorter life in domestic machines

Third but not less important is that with less clothes in the drum the machine has a hard time in balancing the load compared to a full load.

Fourth thing: quite often those big machines are "virtually big", you can't and won't ever stuff a full load in them because many are simply overrated!

 

[buzzman1982]

My mum has a 6kg Bosch and im convinced that its a bigger drum then my 6kg AEG, in hers you can definately fit in so much more washing, the same amount would be a tight squeeze in mine.
A few years ago The Good Housekeeping institute did do tests on different machines and the claims of how big the drums where, and the results they found where the companies where claiming the machines drums where bigger then they actually where. I can't remember precisely the findings but i seem to remember the Zanussi jetsystem claiming to be a 7 but in the real world it was smaller by some margin.

 

[ultimafan]

I do believe that 7-8kg washers are essential, but the way t

is ridiculous.

7-8kgs are OK, but it does depend on drum size. If a 7kg washing machine's drum is smaller than a 5kg's drum, then that's silly. Of course some people are big families and do require large loads, hence there are needs for a larger washing machine. Also if we were to use less wash loads then a transition from a 5kg to a 7-8kg washer could be good.

However it's now gone a bit silly as we now have manufacturers boasting of 11-12kg washers and there is not much need for them at all, not to mention that 9kg seems to be the standard size of machine today. The worst thing is that the latest steam washing machines by Hoover,Hotpoint, Whirlpool all are large quality and if I was to buy one in the future I could not fill it up.

 

[ultimafan]

I hasten to add that...

About thirty years ago the average kg size was 4.5kg (Hotpoint, Hoover, Zanussi) so in some sense if people managed with those back then, why the need for much larger machines (11-12kg)?

I think the thread should be for the advantage and disadvantage of 11-12kg machine coinciding with the launch of Samsung and LG's 11-12kg machines.

 

[ronhic]

Given that the average load of washing done in this country is just over 4kg, I really don't see the point in anything larger than 8kg...

 

I've gone from a 4kg Hoover to a 5kg Blomberg and then a 6.5kg Electrolux/Zanussi/Westinghouse....I only put slightly more in the Electrolux/Zanussi/Westinghouse compared to the Hoover....and engage 'quick' for an 1:08 40c programme...

 

...the Hoover took 50mins on it's longest cycle...

 

[thelaundrylab]

We've gone up the scales...

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif; font-size: small;">lol see told yah my knowledge was a bit poor, I didn't know 11-12kg even existed, and to call me a washing machine fan, puts me to shame. Mind you, it can be a lot to take in,  however interesting comments so far guys, well worth posting this thread after all...</span>

 

[AZREOspecialist]

Liters, Kilograms, IEC, DOE, so confused...

How do kg ratings compare to drum volume in liters? I'm asking because vZug claims their 60 liter machine can take 8 kg of clothes. I'm in the USA and my Miele W4842 has an 80 liter drum volume (33% larger than vZug) yet still claims an 8 kg load. vZug's numbers calculate out to .133 kg/liter, so Miele should be claiming a 10-11 kg load size, but that's not the case. So what gives?

 

[askomiele]

In the earlier days families where larger but clothing was not changed that often as we do today. The capacity of 4,5-5kg was based on studies where a standard 4 person family would change underwear and socks daily, clothing every 3 days and houselinnens every week (tablelinnens, sheets, towels,...) In fact 4,5-5 kg is perfect for a 2-3 person household. Weekly washday consisted of 1 load of whites (to boil), 1 load of heavy duty colored items, 1 load of delicat items and sometimes an extra load for diapers, curtains or sheets.

The reason why capacity is becoming more important has to do with the habit of changing clothing more often. When you have a family of 4 and all members change their outfit daily or every two days form, it means more bulky stuff (shirt and pants take up more volume than underwear does...), leading to the need for bigger load sizes to wash more clothing in less time.

The fact that different drums with the same capacity can look bigger/smaller compared to one another has to do with the ratio that's been used. In earlier days the ratio 1/10 to 1/9 ratio was used, meaning that 1kg of dry cotton needed 9 - 10 liters of volume. Thats why many commercial/industrial builders mention the ratio in liter and in kg! So a Bosch machine with a 6 kg drum has a capacity of 54 liters (1/9) while a miele with a 6kg drum can hold a 60liters (1/10). The ratio also depends on the fabric that is washed. Manuals recommend to load less kg when using a synthetic or permpress cycle than when using a cotton cycle.

Note that the unit of capacity for american washers is cubic foot now! So you can compare the 'real' capacity of the washers. In earlier days the unit used was pounds.

 

[ultimafan]

@Hass

Don't worry, I can't believe the world of laundry either!

Of course, fashion habits change, and years ago many people had twintubs and used clothes longer, wheras now we all have automatics and it's easier to wash a load compared to lugging out a twin tub and filling it up. That being said, a 7/8kg would be adequate, but with such massive machines out today, it's confusing and just not right!

 

[thelaundrylab]

A Grey Area...

<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif; font-size: small;">I'm beginning to wonder if companies who do these machine's "are" trying to take the industrial approach? I get the concept, bigger drum = larger wash loads ie bigger families, that is the only use I can really think of. Having a larger drum would/is </span><span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif; font-size: small;">useful to do the bigger things like double duvets and pillows etc. </span>

<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span>

<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif; font-size: small;">However, </span><span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif; font-size: small;">if its going to lose smaller items (mentioned above), then it means you would have to place all small items in a laundry bag and in this case for me, I believe all laundry should wash loosely in the drum for better agitation. </span><span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Is it economical, my theory would be no, reason being more water consumption. Unless proven wrong otherwise, lol. Like most of you guys, I'm confused in on certain things </span>

 

[docker]

Since I retired, my 2 year old Samsung 8kg TL is now too big. (The Samsung TL range offers 8, 10 & 13kg machines). I now use my 32 year old Indesit L8 4kg most of the time.

 

[twinniefan]

For what it's worth

With our L.G. 8.5kg T.L.we tend to alternate a bit, on occasion we will fill it up and do an 8kg load but most times we will divide it up and do 2 smaller loads.
I find it a bit advantageous to have a large capacity machine for this reason and also when we decide to wash smaller loads, the clothing can move more freely and I find less inclined to tangling.
The machine weighs the dry load around initially and tells you what water level is required and how much detergent to use,so excess water usage and so forth does not really come into it, but then we only wash every couple of days anyway.
Regards.
Steve.
P.S.to tell the absolute truth, I prefer using the twin tub to the automatic, so you must wash smaller loads.

 

[brisnat81]

I seriously would like the 7/8kg Miele to replace the current 5kg machines that we have now.

 

I aim to do one load of each type each week (Except Shirts), and it's usually the darks mixed and Towel load that I quite often have to split because there isnt quite enough space.  I split the Shirts load into two lots of 5 shirts as 10 at once gets a little creased.

 

The Miele washes well even when the drum is packed full, but there are times when I just cant fit the last few bits and pieces in.

 

My current machines have a volume of about 49L I think, whereas the new ones are 60L  The extra 10L of volume over the old would be a huge bonus as I would then never have a load that would overfill

 

[AZREOspecialist]

Capacity needs in Europe are different than in North America. In North America, nobody puts a washer/dryer in the kitchen or under the cabinet, whereas in Europe that is a very important design criteria. Since European machines are designed to fit in a smaller space, naturally the drum sizes must also be smaller. In North America, large laundry rooms are the norm and our machines can be big and bulky, thereby accommodating the much larger drum sizes.

Putting aside all the fat jokes, Americans tend to go through a lot of laundry - especially families with kids. I had an Asko with a 5 kg capacity, but after buying an 8 kg Miele I would never go back to 5 kg. While you can make all sorts of arguments that the average load size is this and that, the extra capacity is a godsend when you have large, bulky items that you need to wash. If I'm spending a few thousand dollars on my laundry pair, you better believe that I shouldn't have to go to the laundromat for anything. My 8 kg Miele will take a heavy, king size duvet, fitted sheet and pillow cases with still about 30% room to spare. When washing my beddings I will sometimes throw some bath towels into the load to top it off.

 

[passatdoc]

from across the pond

I have a Frigidaire 2140 which is rated at 3.5 cu feet and I think it works out to about 8 kgs. It is large enough to wash a queen size comforter, but not large enough for a king size comforter. Duvets are no problem.

I have a laundry center near my machines

http://www.lowes.com/pd_116650-47359-L251120_0__?productId=1005459&Ntt=laundry+center&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dlaundry%2Bcenter&facetInfo=

with three sorting bags. I find that a full bag (not overstuffed or overflowing) fills the washer nicely. If I had one of the new larger machines (4.5-5.0) cu ft, most likely a full sorting bag would fall short of a full load. More than likely, I would not be filling the drum with each load, but rather washing a 2/3 or 3/4 load.

FLs seem to be at peak efficiency when full but not overloaded. If you wash a 1/4 or 1/3 load, the machine still has to do the initial fill, so in terms of energy and water used per piece of clothing, it has to be wasting resources. I might be able to wash a king comforter in a 4.5 or 5.0 cu ft machine, but otherwise my current washer takes care of all my laundry needs.

 

[foraloysius]

I think a washer/dryer set up in the kitchen is a typical British thing. In most other European countries you don't see that very often. In the Netherlands bigger houses have laundry rooms. Smaller houses often have the laundry area set up in a bathroom. Overhere in the Netherlands new houses are often designed to have a laundry area in the attic.